Max Trescott talks with co-host Rob Mark about new docket details on Bering Air Flight 445—a Part 135 Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, N321BA—that crashed near Nome, Alaska after a troubling sequence of weight, icing, and airspeed issues. They discuss how overweight loading, Alaska-specific operating allowances, and confusing “minimum speed in ice” guidance can combine to erase stall margin fast. The Preliminary Report is here. Brought to you by AVEMCO aircraft insurance.

They also touch on the Epic E1000 crash of N98FK near Steamboat Springs, Colorado, a night RNAV (GPS) approach where LNAV+V advisory glidepath guidance may have lured the airplane below MDA into terrain—a reminder that LNAV+V can look like LPV but provides no obstacle protection below MDA.

Plus: an experimental Lancair IV-P, N163BR, suffers an apparent engine failure near Savannah, Georgia, and the occupants survive thanks to a ballistic-parachute deployment. Two final reports round out the episode: a Cessna 182P, N14YY, in Mississippi where a non-venting fuel cap contributed to fuel-starvation symptoms and a loss of control on landing, and a turbocharged Beech A36 Bonanza, N347M, in Pennsylvania where a door-open startle after takeoff, combined with an overweight condition, ended in a stall and crash.

Max talks with co-host Rob Mark about two headline-making NTSB threads: the DCA midair collision and the preliminary report on the Greg Biffle crash. First, they react to the NTSB’s day-long public hearing on the DCA midair and the board’s newly adopted probable-cause statement—an unusually long, multi-factor finding that points toward fixes in airspace design, controller procedures, ADS-B policy, and military aviation governance.

Then they pivot to the Cessna Citation 550 accident involving NASCAR driver Greg Biffle (N257BW) near Statesville, North Carolina. The preliminary report raises hard questions about cockpit workload and decision-making: instrument anomalies, an apparent electrical/power issue, and a “second in command required” limitation that wasn’t satisfied by the right-seat occupant.

The episode also rounds up several other investigations: a Cirrus SR20 CAPS deployment in England where the parachute lines may have separated after snagging power lines, a Cirrus SR22 engine-failure diversion in South Carolina, an IFR Bonanza crash in rain near Sabine, Texas, a Mexican Navy King Air 350i accident near Galveston, and final reports covering a training stall/spin in Georgia and a Musketeer engine failure after an undetected oil-system leak. If you care about real-world lessons—and what the NTSB is signaling for the next wave of safety changes—hit play and share it with another pilot.

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Max Trescott and Rob Mark talk about the Bangor, Maine Bombardier Challenger 650 crash (N10KJ)—a major breaking story—and what the earliest discussion points usually look like before investigators have hard answers. They outline why takeoff accidents in winter conditions immediately raise questions about contamination, deicing decisions, holdover time, and whether ice or snow could have been present at the start of the takeoff roll.

Then the episode shifts to set of other NTSB cases with sharply different aircraft and missions—but familiar human factors. These include the American Aviation AA-1A (N9439L) near Alamogordo, NM, Cirrus SR20 (N814) in Watertown, WI, Beech C23 (N76SB) in Virginia, Mooney M20C (N1204X) in Texas, Cessna 206 (N460DC) in California, Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche (N8693Y) in Illinois, and a Beechcraft 95 Travel Air (N369BB) training flight in Alabama. Across them: unstable approaches, late go-arounds, loss of control close to the ground, and pilots pushing past safe margins.